I don't think it was the worst trade in the world for OKC. From Harden's point of view, I think to really flourish the way he has, he had to get on a team where he could be utilized as a legitimate franchise player, not a No. 3 option. I'm not saying it isn't great to have a guy like that coming off your bench, but that could only go on for so long.

OKC wasn't going to be able to keep all of those guys and Harden is too good to be a non-starter, non-first option.

He had to go and the package OKC got in return was about as good as it is going to get. You are never going to get equal value for a player of Harden's talents. What you can do is acquire a bunch of assets to be used in a later trade or to develop young talent.

Martin will serve as offense off the bench and Jeremy Lamb, two first-round picks and a second-round pick give the Thunder plenty of flexibility to go out and get a guy that will really mesh well with the foundation they've built. If they can use those assets to build a formidable front court, it will have been worth it come playoff time.

17 PPG in two games for Martin and he's 6/9 from three and 10/10 from the FT line. He had two or three assists tonight, too.

Obviously he's not as good as Harden, but he's playing the "Harden" sixth man role pretty well so far. Tonight he did it perfectly. He hit a big three, a jumper, and got to the line two times in the fourth when OKC blew the game open.